Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ramblings from the Range (.260 Rem.)

Still on the lookout for a local powder source, hoping to stay with powders that I have long used and am familiar with. And I've got my own prejudices about what is suitable for various types of rifles. The majority of my loading efforts now are for my new Montana X2 .260.

Some of those prejudices are getting a little roughed up. I ordered several hundred 123 amaxes a few weeks back. In a fit of exuberance I necked up almost all of my old .243 brass and tried to load up every combo that I had bullets and powder for, and could find in a manual. Also loaded a few that I didn't find in a manual, but saw recommended here in various threads.

Component bullets so far are limited to the 120 BT and the 123 amax. I'm shooting the ballistic tip because I am a true believer. I shoot the amax because they are relatively cheap and available. And they shoot really good.

Never would have considered H4831 suitable for a mid weight bullet in a cartridge like the .260, but a few weeks back I tried h4831 with the ballistic tip, as I had a lot of it on hand. I had hopes, but the reality was in line with my prejudices. I gave up on it early on. The accuracy was OK, but not as good as h4350.
Went with h4831 again when the amaxes came and was immediately delighted with their accuracy. They shot well from the starting load right up to the case filled to the mouth with book max. In fact this is the easy money load with this rifle, so far. Go figure...

Also burned through some RL15 and RL22 with the amax. The Rl22 was OK, but not as consistently accurate as most of the other powders I tried.

The RL15 had me curious, as it did real well from the starting load up to ~1 gr below book max. At 37.5 gr, it almost rivaled the h4831 money load. 1 gr more powder and it fell on it's face with 2.5 to 3.5 inch groups at 100. Other than the book's suggestions, I got no idea what any of these loads are turning out for speed.

Also tried the amax with some h4350. accuracy was good, but this is one of my scarcer powders and I'm gonna save it for my 120 BT loads.

The 120 BT continues to excel with a book max load of h4350.
As noted above it was a disappointment with h4831.
Because I have a fair amount on hand I also tried IMR 4064. Accuracy was at it's best, just over an inch, at the starting load. With the powder I have on hand, it will hold my interest as a practice and plinking load.

The big take-away from these last couple of weeks is that it pays to try things that are outside your experience or prejudices.

I've ordered more of the ballistic tips and also ordered a bunch of the 129 interlocks.

You should try some RL17.

Anything that I've had that shot well with H4350 shot just as well w/RL17 and a little faster.

David

Love to try some but never seen it on the shelf. In your estimation, is RL17 a temp stable powder?

Alliant claims that Rl15 is temp stable but that doesn't match up with my experience.

RL17 loads I work up @60-70F are pretty much dead on in the mid 20's. I don't see any real cold, so I can't comment on that. Several folks that have chronographed loads in sub zero temps have experienced have posted significant temp swings.

David

H4831 has given me very good results in my 260s.






With that said, RL17 has given me really good results with good velocity, and RL19 has done well. I would like to try some R23.

H4350 and 140gr bullets is the ticket for .260's

I have a tikka 260 but haven't got around to loading for it yet only bought the nosler bt and Barnes ttsx so far to try

H4350 and 130 grain bullets are the bee's knee's in my .260

I've found Varget or IMR 4064 works great with 120-130gr projectiles. Speed is not fast as H4350, but makes up with accuracy (Easy 1/2" groups).

24" barrel
Lapua brass

130's with 39grs of Varget or IMR4064 give around 2850fps. Both are stable and give great ES.

I am thinking maybe the new IMR 4451 Enduron might be exactly what you are wanting to try. Sounds tailor made.

I have a an admittedly odd 1-10 twist 260 but it shoots 140 Game kings well with H4831sc. For 120 nbt's which grouped fine and 120 Pro Hunters which shoot crazy good in that rifle I use IMR 4350.

For use in my 260s, with bullet weights from 85 to 129, I have to admit, the powders I reach for all have about the same burn rate... 4064, IMR 4895 and RL 15...

For 140s I switch over to IMR 4350 first and H4350 second...
or H 414 if I don't have to worry about hot temps...

each are very accurate, but if I had only one powder to pick of the batch, 4064 would be my choice...its consistently the most accurate across the board...

Don't overlook Varget for the 260- H4350 is certainly the standby, however. If you have adequate twist, give the 130 & 140gr bullets a try.

I actually see varget on the shelf pretty often. It's one of the more popular powders in this area. I experimented with some a while back but gave it away to a buddy. Will pick some up to try and better what I did with the RL15.

I was pretty happy with the RL15 stuff, until I got to the max load. Never seen anything fall apart so sharply with the addition of one grain of powder.

As to the IMR 4451, I will get some. Likely order it and the varget together as it's cheaper online anyway.

Day off today, but I'm gonna try and get some more garden in. I'm early, and it's been a bit cool, but we've had no frost in 3 weeks and none projected for the rest of spring.

John, 4064 always edged out varget in my 7-08s, same charge, same speed, better accuracy. I believe 4320 is a sleeper as well with lighter bullets in the 260.

Re: 130s in the 260, they seem to "Gel"

I'm using AA4350 in my 243. Saving my H4350 for the swede. I wouldn't try a bunch of different random powders, I would try powders in the 4350 burn range.

Rl-17 is one I would most certainly run..

Yeah, I know. H4350 is where I really wanna be. Or at least I thought so til I read some comments here about the enduron powders like IMR4451.

And I've got months and months before hunting season. Been looking for a way to burn some of these powders for years. I expect that I can get a lot of trigger time without buying any more powder at all.
And... there's only about an inch or so difference at 200 in POI of the slower RL15 load. I do a bit of field position stuff at a 6" steel plate and I can't really tell much difference. Life is good...

Received my latest bullet order today. Got the 129 interlock and a couple more boxes of the 120 BT. Have decided to order some 140 interlocks next, and will also try the ELDX if I ever find any.

Both the 123 Amax, and the 120 BT shoot superbly over a max load of varget.

The Amax is a groundhog eraser.